Long Beach, Mississippi HazMat Teams Evacuate Homes, Contain Chemical Leak
Residents along Ryan Circle north of the station evacuated for more than three hours, hanging out at a gas station to the north, said JoAnn Koons, a mother of three children under 5 years old.
"Lots of people displaced," she said, "kids everywhere, whining and crying, have school tomorrow." Koons seemed in good humor when she returned home around 10:20 p.m., even though the kids still needed baths.
None of the residents were in danger, Bass said. "We evacuated as a precaution."
Police officers blocked off Klondyke Road in the area of the station while Long Beach and Gulfport Fire Department Hazmat crews contained the leak and the state Department of Environmental Quality brought in a commercial cleanup crew.
Firefighters smelled the leak earlier in the day, stopped it and called the supplier to pick up the tank. Shortly after 3 p.m., Koons said, her family was told to stay inside.
When DPC Enterprises of Mobile arrived to pick up the tank around 6 p.m., the cap shifted and it began to leak again, Bass said.
Koons and her family had gone to a soccer game when they heard about the evacuation, which neighbors told her was around 7 p.m.
Long Beach called in the Department of Environmental Quality for cleanup.
"We're going to drain the tank so it won't leak anymore," said Earl Etheridge, DEQ state on-scene coordinator. Chlorine can be corrosive and toxic as a gas, he said. It was drained from the tank into 55-gallon drums of water, which will then be taken to a disposal site.
Bass said an air monitor showed the quantity of chlorine released was well below dangerous levels.
Etheridge expected the work to take until at least 2 a.m. today.
Firefighters were ready by 9:45 p.m. to head back to the station.
"I got a bunch of guys that haven't had a chance to eat supper yet," Bass said, "so they're getting cranky on me."